"The Department of Public Health distributes 4.45 million needles each year to the city’s 22,000 intravenous drug users. Heroin and prescription opioids are the most injected substances, though use of methamphetamines and Fentanyl is on the rise. It’s true that sterile needles reduce the transmission of blood-borne infections, and injecting narcotics under supervision can lower the risk of overdose and death. But harm reduction goes far beyond promoting these kinds of needle-safety measures. For example, At the Crossroads, a nonprofit, assembled “safe snorting kits” for at-risk and homeless youth. Baggies were filled with straws, chopping mats, plastic razor blades, and instruction sheets. Other groups offer crack-cocaine “safe-smoking” kits. A proposal to open “safe injection” sites, opposed by Jerry Brown, is favored by Governor Gavin Newsom, and is likely to succeed."https://www.city-journal.org/san-francisco-drugs-harm-reduction?
Friday, February 15, 2019
Harm reduction in San Francisco
Can media survive the Trump presidency?
Yes, Trump blasts "fake news" and that gets journalists worked up who then fight back, but unfortunately they don't even see their own biases and some really believe they are being objective and fair. And then there are revelations like those of Andrew McCabe's book which just prove him right again.
Conservatives knew for years before the 2016 election that they weren't being treated fairly, that the intellectual "elites" in the media, academe, DC, the state houses, and entertainment were slamming, ridiculing and dissing them. So it's been a perfect storm--falling advertising revenue, loss of readership by customers who don't trust them (most people don't enjoy being insulted by someone who wants to sell them something), and a President who calls them out on their bias.
I would like to see the old print media survive, and the web media improve, but they've got a few miles to go to win back the country and become solvent again.

"If you’re a working journalist and you believe that Donald J. Trump is a demagogue playing to the nation’s worst racist and nationalistic tendencies, that he cozies up to anti-American dictators and that he would be dangerous with control of the United States nuclear codes, how the heck are you supposed to cover him?
Because if you believe all of those things, you have to throw out the textbook American journalism has been using for the better part of the past half-century, if not longer, and approach it in a way you’ve never approached anything in your career. If you view a Trump presidency as something that’s potentially dangerous, then your reporting is going to reflect that. You would move closer than you’ve ever been to being oppositional. That’s uncomfortable and uncharted territory for every mainstream, nonopinion journalist I’ve ever known, and by normal standards, untenable." https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/business/balance-fairness-and-a-proudly-provocative-presidential-candidate.html
El Paso Rally up close by someone who was there--Dionne
Anyway, 45k+ people - about 90% of them Hispanic - wearing MAGA hats. Also black, white, LGBTQ, military, even some peaceful mature democrats all in line braving the freezing wind, laughing joking , talking with each other, to see the President. No fighting, no meanness - not even to the few protesters (and I mean FEW--- we didn't really see any until AFTER the rally when we were coming out. I guess they waited until cover of darkness or were just irritated because of Beto's failed "Rally" down the street). Mexican, white, black, gay, young people, old people, military, law enforcement, men , women... all getting along and supporting each other with a shared pride and love of our country without a SINGLE Democratic leader around to "help us get along" or "protect us" from each other..*GASP!!* who'da thought? ?
I didn't watch the news or the "Media's" version of the rally, but I'm sure it wasn't the picture I just painted. I cant blame them ---it's pretty embarrassing to show visual evidence that you are LOSING the city and demographic you thought you were in control of...I wouldn't show it either if I were them, or I'd definitely dirty it up with some fake stories, fake fights, and maybe only show pictures of the few WHITE people that were there (they made up maybe 5% of the entire crowd) so it would look like a KKK rally."
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Forget toxic masculinity
2019 may become the year of toxic feminism. We experienced a temper tantrum by the aging Pelosi, the highest elected female in the country, in line for the presidency, refusing Trump his SOTU; then when it finally happens we had to watch a block of white lab coats described variously as abortion assistants to noisy middle school girls' silliness; a Michigan Congress woman called the President a disgusting term; we have Kathy Tran proposing death to fully viable babies in Virginia; and women who cheered late term abortion in New York; and finally yesterday we saw the grossest, most vile behavior of Ilhan Omar in Congress that I've ever seen in my life time, coming on the heels of her anti-Semitism of a few days ago which was defended by another female, Ocasio-Cortez. Time to get the cameras out of these hearing rooms! They are exposing women and are embarrassing 51% of the country.
Joan doesn’t agree with today’s philosophy of reading—guest blogger Joan Turrentine (former teacher)
“Recent educational philosophy has been that it doesn't matter WHAT children read as long as they DO read. I am glad I grew up and went to school in a day when schools believed that it matters WHAT students read. My mind and memory are full of quality literature, classic poetry, thought-provoking stories and poems. I became familiar with and developed a useful and precise vocabulary and a familiarity with proper English language syntax. I observed in countless realistic situations (in reading assignments) how real people act and how people interact with other people and build happy and successful lives. I read the thoughts of some of the greatest thinkers of the past and learned how they organize their thoughts, thereby learning HOW to think and reason. Because of this background, I often read FB posts, have conversations, or read other media and recognize cultural references, recognize faulty/logical reasoning strategies, understand some of human nature.
I feel bad for many of today's elementary school kids who only read about teachers who are aliens, students who are wizards, and other such imaginary life situations. What preparation for real life does that provide? What thought processes does that develop? How does that help them discover their own values in life? And then in post-elementary school they read such dystopian literature as the Hunger Games series, the Unwind series, or numerous other books with unrealistic settings which provide no opportunity for observing how people might handle real life situations and what consequences might be expected to result from actions. There's nothing wrong with any of this literature if students want to read them on their own; but I believe the schools owe them better than that. These students won't be culturally literate as adults - recognizing references to the classic literature, philosophy, or history of the ages. They won't have had the opportunity to develop their own sense of how to live successfully in this world. What they have read will not have helped them develop values to help them live successfully and happily. I so strongly believe that it DOES matter WHAT children read.”
I agree with Joan’s concern and philosophy, I just don't think I had all that much "quality" reading material--at least my mother used to complain it wasn't as good as what she had in the 1920's. All I cared about as a child was horse and dog stories. I enjoyed reading from encyclopedias and preferred to write and illustrate my own stories. My grandmother gave us subscriptions to Jack and Jill, hardly sophisticated or difficult information. We had a lot of magazines and the local newspapers (and maybe one from Chicago). Mom belonged to the “Book of the Month” club, which was definitely considered “low brow,” but I enjoyed looking through her fiction. I learned the names of the classics, by playing the card game "Authors" , and by high school, the literature text books were just excerpts grouped by era or genre. In college I was a foreign language major, so I had NO American or British literature. I was definitely a forerunner for today's poorly educated students! Today I belong to a book club, and I’m grateful for my well educated reading friends—but I’m still not educated in the type of literature Joan recommends. And of course, not having grandchildren (she has many), I haven’t even heard of the series she writes about.
Just in time for the Green New Deal
"California’s new governor, the prim and grim Gavin Newsom, announced that the project [bullet train] would be taken off its $650-million-a-month life-support apparatus and euthanized. The end of the project leaves Californians with no way to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco except a 90-minute, $149 flight." Kevin Williamson, Feb. 13
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/california-bullet-train-boondoggle-central-planning/?
For those who have family with mental health issues
This young lady is the daughter of a friend. Not sure of her age, but she’s about 19-20. I spent some time with her about 7 years ago when she was in middle school—such a sweet, beautiful child. We have been praying for her and her mother. Recently she had some serious problems, and today posted this:
“Hi all, I just thought I would share with you what 2019 has held for me so far. I’ve been through some stuff I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. I’ll start with my most recent “adventure”. I’ve struggled with mental health issues for just about as long as I can remember, whether it be anxiety, depression or Bipolar 1. These past 9 days I was hospitalized due to these issues and I would like to share my experience in hopes to help anyone going through something similar.
I was at the lowest of the low. I was unstable, depressed, hopeless, dissociated, anxious you name it. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t eating. I lost 20 pounds in the past month or so. Even though I have a strong support system, I had never felt so alone. I couldn’t describe in words how awful that feeling was.
The first night I was there, I wished that I wasn’t alive. I wished that I had never been born. I wished I could fall asleep and never wake up. Looking back now, I want to tell myself that everything was going to get better with each passing day.
I met some incredible people during my stay in which I hope to keep in touch with for the rest of my days. Hearing people talk about their experiences and being able to relate with you and talk through your problems, is the most amazing way to start your healing process. I cried with them, I laughed with them, but most importantly they taught me that having mental health issues is okay. They taught me so many valuable skills and lessons that I will cherish for the rest of my life. During any future struggles I may have, everything I’ve learned from them will help me come out stronger than before.
Through this experience, I’ve learned not to be ashamed or embarrassed. I’ve talked about my problems, which is totally not my style, but it’s helped immensely. I’m happier, I’m healthier and I have a whole new, positive, outlook on life. I will continue to better myself day by day.
I thought I had no way out. It felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Some of you may be able to relate in your own ways, some of you may not and that’s perfectly okay. . .
Thank you to my Family, Friends and everyone else who has supported me through my struggles. I appreciate it so very much and I don’t know what I would do without you!”
Who knew what when? Theodore McCarrick
“More than sixty years after his priestly ordination, nearly five decades after he began sexually abusing young men and boys, more than four decades after his episcopal consecration, and at least nineteen years after his preying on seminarians was first reported to the Vatican, Theodore McCarrick is – we are told – on the verge of being removed from the clerical state”
In this era of either hyper-vigilance over a joke or a yearbook 35 years old, contrasted with a casual accepting attitude toward homosexuality, the church will be conflicted over what to do. So far, the oversight and caring for the teens and boys who have been abused is just disgusting.
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2019/02/14/mr-mccarricks-mess/
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
DC resident sees the culture wars up close
“I am a chiropractor, who has lived in the DC area for 35 years. During that time, I have had the opportunity to treat Generals, Colonels, employees of the CIA, the FBI, hundreds of government workers, as well as members of all of the branches of the military. I have never, in that time, encountered the intolerance, racism and hatred that exists in the Democratic party today. Some of my dearest friends are Liberals, and have been for years, and it is only recently that their sanctimony and animosity has gotten to the point that we can't have a civil conversation regarding our President. I kept quiet during President Obama's two terms, because I knew that if I had dared to disagree with him, I would have been labeled a racist. I am saddened by the 'soundbite nation' that we have become. Fact and truth seem to have no place in the Democratic Party, nor in the Liberal media, for that matter.”
(from the Walk Away site on Facebook)
She’s in the belly of the beast. . .
Why Trump is attacked on immigration
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both children of immigrants
Thurberville--March book club selection
Translating the Bible into Kikerewe
Teachers’ salaries—not what you think
Some questioned my figures for hourly wages for teachers (in a post about the union strike in Colorado on Facebook) being on average $60/hour. However, the latest I've found is $61.91--$41.41 is the wage, and $20.50 the benefits. Sept. 2018 figures. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf.
Benefits for public employees are far more generous than private sector. "Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $34.53 per hour worked in September 2018. Total employer compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $50.03 per hour worked in September 2018. "
For the most part we don't pay federal income tax on our benefits, and the government is lusting after that--believing it belongs to the federal government. The employers get a write off too. Imagine the "windfall" to the federal government to waste with just the medical deductions from workers and the business write off costs for the employers.
Kamala Harris must be swooning at the thought!
Democrats working hard to destroy us
The latest trick is the Green Grab Deal of AOC and her aging groupies. Hoping to make the stock market shake in fear and collapse the roaring economy, they proposed to take our property, transportation and health care and then denied it. If they can get people to lose faith in America, in our economic system and our president, they hope to be able to destroy her as Marxists have been attempting to do for 90 years.
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” Winston Churchill
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/12/694060405/mcconnell-plans-to-bring-green-new-deal-to-senate-vote This NPR article is good to read if you want to see how biased this source is. McConnell is exposing how silly all this is, and NPR leans backwards (or leftward) to say it just isn't fair to Democrats to catch them with their pants down.
Some people just don’t get it.
Because of lower taxes, refunds will be smaller. This seems to upset people who prefer to allow the government to use their money before filing taxes.
From the NYT article: "The result is that taxpayers may be paying less over all but still getting a bill after filing their return. That has caught many people off guard."
Proving that it is hard to underestimate the financial understanding of the average American. They paid less taxes, but are still upset
What about NAD+
Highlights: “NAD+ and sirtuins in aging and disease,” Shin-ichiro Imai and Leonard Guarente, Trends in Cell Biology, 2014, Aug. 24(8): 464-471. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4112140/ 71 references
- NAD + plays a key role in regulating metabolism and circadian rhythm through sirtuins.
- NAD + becomes limiting during aging, affecting sirtuins’ activities.
- NAD + decline is likely to be due to a NAD + biosynthesis defect and increased depletion.
- Supplementing key NAD + intermediates can restore NAD + levels and ameliorate age-associated pathophysiologies.
“NAD AND THE AGING PROCESS: ROLE IN LIFE, DEATH AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN” Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2017 Nov 5; 455: 62–74.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5419884/
“NAD was discovered over a hundred years ago (Harden and Young, 1906), and now that it has achieved its status as a super-centenarian molecule, its role in the biological process of aging is being recognized (Braidy et al., 2011; Gomes et al., 2013; Lin et al., 2000; Massudi et al., 2012; Scheibye-Knudsen et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2015). It has been shown that NAD levels decline during chronological aging, and that this decline is both a consequence of the aging process and also a contributor to the development of age-related cellular dysfunction (Braidy et al., 2011; Gomes et al., 2013; Massudi et al., 2012; Scheibye-Knudsen et al., 2014; Verdin, 2015; Zhu et al., 2015). It is possible that a vicious cycle exists in which molecular mechanisms involved in the aging process, such as oxidative stress, DNA damage, senescence, and inflammation, lead to tissue NAD decline which subsequently exacerbates the processes that caused its decline in the first place (Figure 1). To potentially intervene in this vicious cycle it is crucial that we understand the mechanisms that lead to cellular NAD decrease during aging and, in particular, whether the decrease is mediated primarily by changes in its degradation, synthesis, or both. Furthermore, it is critical to understand how oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation, and senescence impact cellular NAD metabolism during the aging process. In the current review we will present a critical analysis of this subject, and will provide new mechanistic hypotheses to explain the age-related NAD decline.”
The grey, golden years—Vantage Point Devotional for February 13
Psalm 71:18
In Psalm 71, we see David reminiscing on his life, and now acknowledging the grey in his hair. While he is filled with praise for God’s lifetime of provision, he is eager to pass what he has learned to the next generations. David asks the Lord to sustain him so that he might.
Aging has its challenges…failing health, falling income, possibly even thoughts of uselessness or obsolescence. But God wants you to glory in your grey. You have lessons to teach. Times when God healed health issues, or provided just the right job when you thought financial ruin was looming. You are not useless so long as you can have the sound of praise in your heart and in your voice. Grandparents can often get their messages through to children and youth when the words of parents fall on deaf ears.
What legacy are you preparing for the generations who will follow you? The most important is their memories of your love and praise for the Lord. Ask Him to be your sustainer through your grey (or golden) years. Intercede for God to grant His loving wisdom to the grandparents who serve in Congress, the courts and the Trump Administration.

